Boudhanath Coffe Shop, KTM, Nepal

Kathmandu Nepal, wow what an explosion of intrusive gong shows. Even the simplest of tasks turn into hour long adventures from trying to find an actual bank not just a random crumby ATM on the side of the street to taking a taxi ride 2km across town. I would not survive here as a taxi driver. Take 1 lane in Vancouver then jam small compact cars, scooters and pedestrians heading in opposite directions all going straight at each other, then take the road make it a dust filled gulch made of loose gravel and chunks of cement haphazardly with holes everywhere. Multiply the horns of everyone honking simultaneously to politely inform everyone else to move out of the way and then take us. A couple of spoiled first worlders choking on the dust and sneezing like idiots with our sterilized water bottles in hand carrying our probiotics in one hand and clean toilet paper in the other. I may be embellishing. There is rubble everywhere surrounded by dirt and sand in every crevasse. Its either left over remnants of building post earthquake in 2015 or materials for new developments. Either way it's everywhere. The people here are amazingly kind yet walk around with a neutral face sometimes cold but without a trace of malice. We have gotten into some bad traffic situations in taxis that compared to back home would have erupted into fists being thrown around with the use of foul language. However, here everyone just honks, barely misses hitting(sometimes actually hits) each other and moves on. Both of us receive a lot of attention from the locals. Mostly staring at Beth for a long time, then me. Something that I've gotten used to over the past 4 years we have been together. Beth ignores it all the same, she's great like that, she's so wise with her selective naivety. She throttled me around this morning just after 5am to head up to the monkey temple to watch the sunrise. This privilege is taken very serious by the locals and they chant, pray, and sing daily as a ceremonious way of life. Other younger locals were stretching and doing push-ups amidst a massive tribe of monkeys screeching around looking for food climbing up and down the 300 something steps to the temple. The Buddha taught only to believe something to be true once you've experienced it yourself. Then and only then it is truth. But until then question everything. We all base our lives on our belief system and faith. Sometimes even blind faith because of something we have read, learned, or experienced. I believe life demands us to be constantly challenging our belief systems pragmatically in order to be a better person everyday. Why accept things as face value and wallow around in our safe bubbles of routine and comfort. That's not the life I want to live. If you're not challenging yourself in some way you become stagnant, and plateaus gradually turn into downward spirals eventually. Bethany has helped me realize this over the years as she inadvertently inspires me to constantly impress her.
Temperature here is mid 20s sunny getting cold at night with about 40% humidity kind of like back home. Today is our last day in Kathmandu and tomorrow we are taking a bus to Pokhara for some epic adventures!Read more